Russia's Foreign Minister Outlines Approach to Multilateralism

Russia's foreign minister says "multilateral diplomacy based on international law" has become the "universal means" of conducting foreign affairs.

In an article appearing Wednesday on a government Web site, Sergei Lavrov said there are no "force-based solutions" to the problems in Iraq, North Korea, the Sudanese region of Darfur or elsewhere.

Lavrov criticized what he says is the U.S. "ideology-motivated unilateral" approach to diplomacy. He said that "no state or groups of states possesses sufficient resources to impose unipolarity on the world."

He said an equal partnership should prevail in U.S.-Russia relations.

His article criticized what he calls Europe's "bloc mentality" and accused some new members of the European Union of being obsessed with the idea of "containing Russia."

Lavrov said this mentality is compatible with U.S. plans to erect a missile defense base in Europe as part of a global system deployed along the perimeters of Russia and China.

A shorter version of Lavrov's article "Containing Russia: Back to the Future?" was published on the ministry Web site last month after he withdrew the original from Foreign Affairs magazine, accusing the New York-based publication of censorship.

Foreign Affairs editor James Hoge called the charges "utterly erroneous" and claimed that the article went through the normal editing process to clarify it and eliminate repetition.

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